Thursday, August 22, 2013

Better know a politician: Tom Cotton

Name: Tom Cotton

Position: Member of Congress

District: Arkansas's 4th
Congressional District (AR-4)

Political Party: Republican

Previous position: Consultant at
McKinsey and Company

Future position: Cotton has announced
his intention to run for the United States Senate seat in Arkansas to
face Democratic Senator Mark Pryor. Pryor is a Democratic Senator
from a largely Conservative state. Because of this, most people
assume that Pryor is quite vulnerable. Pryor's Senate seat is of
special interest to the Republican party because they see this as a
relatively easy opportunity to pick up a crucial Senate seat.

Previous election: Tom Cotton 59% Gene
Jeffress 37%

Next election: Republican primary for
the U.S. Senate seat in Arkansas. If he wins, it'll trigger an
election against Pryor in November of 2014.

Leadership: House Committee on
Financial Services

House Committee on Foreign Affairs

Fundraising (2014 cycle): Source:
OpenSecrets:

Raised: $1,137,856

Spent: $210,835

Cash on hand: $1,045,372

Top contributors:

Club for Growth $74,800

Arkwest Communications $20,800

Dillard's $13,000

Stephens Group $12,150

Bank of the Ozarks $10,400

Recent elections:

2012 House: Tom Cotton: 59% Gene
Jeffress: 37%

Positions

Abortion.
Cotton is a pro-life Republican. He has stated that he wants to
re-establish a culture of life. He has announced his opposition to
stem-cell research and human cloning. He also has announced that he
would not support any family planning assistance that includes
abortion services.

Budget/Economy.
He does not support defense spending cuts. He is, in fact, very
critical of the cuts that have already been made to the military
citing that they were made to accommodate the President's radical
liberal agenda.

He
has signed the Taxpayer Protection Pledge in his zeal to show how
Conservative he can be. He has been a vocal critic of the current
taxation system. He has stated that he would support lowering taxes
and will not support any tax increase on any tax bracket.

Cotton
has not been a supporter of the stimulus packages. His Facebook page
has indicated his displeasure for the stimulus packages, stopping
just short of calling it a waste of money.He has demanded a balanced
budget amendment to the Constitution. He has also stated that he
would like to limit federal spending growth to per-capita inflation
rate.

Civil
Rights.
He has been a supporter of the “traditional” definition of
marriage. He has vocalized his support for the Defense of Marriage
Act. He also has stated that to have a strong family, you must have
a strong marriage, which depends on the traditional understanding of
marriage. Despite this, he is not a current sponsor of H.J. Res. 51
which is the latest attempt to propose an amendment to the
Constitution defining marriage. He is not a co-sponsor of H.R. 1755,
the Employee Non-discriminaton Act of 2013

He
voted against reauthorizing the Violence Against Women Act.

Education.
He believes in the ideals of charter schools which would hold that
school choice is a key component of education reform. He also
believes in competition between schools. Somewhat not surprising, is
that he does not believe in federal grants for education reforms.

Just a
few weeks ago, he voted against the student loan legislation in
Congress. Cotton, himself, was a recipient of Stafford loans while
attending Harvard Law School. Cotton stated that his vote was based
on his opposition to the nationalization of the student-loan
business, which he claimed was a part of Obamacare.

Energy/Environment.
He has supported offshore energy production and believes we need
more oil and gas exploration and production. He does not believe
that cap and trade would have any effect on global temperatures. He
also believes that we should explore proven energy reserves to keep
energy prices low. He does not believe in a cap and trade system
because he thinks it would make America less effective in the world's
economy. Based on that, it sounds like he does not support the EPA
regulating greenhouse gas emissions.

Foreign policy.
Cotton, who is a former member of the military, believes that the
Iraq and Afghanistan War were justified and necessary. He also
supports combat operations in Afghanistan.

Gun control.
He has been supportive of the 2nd
Amendment. Part of the reason that Pryor is in trouble in Arkansas
is because of a perceived weakness on gun control. He also received
an endorsement from the Gun Owners of America. He opposes any
restrictions on gun purchases. Those restrictions would include
closing the gun show loophole.

Health care.
Cotton does not support the Affordable Care Act, which may
apparently include student loan legislation. He disagrees with the
Supreme Court's decision in the case for the Affordable Care Act and
believes that the Affordable Care Act is unconstitutional. He has
voted to defund, repeal, and replace federal care with free market
healthcare.

Immigration.
He does not support any earned path to citizenship. Because of
this, he does not support the Gang of Eight's immigration reform
bill. He, also, supports exiting the United States in order for
immigrants to gain citizenship.

Welfare.
He has voted for maintaining the work requirement for welfare
recipients.